Embrace soup season with this hearty Georgian recipe!

Soup à la Reine is a creamy chicken soup that would have been served as a reviving supper for guests towards the end of a ball or to warm them up as they arrived on a cold night.

Ingredients

  • 250g gammon
  • 4 chicken thighs
  • A handful of parsley
  • 1 onion, cut into chunks
  • 1 blade of mace
  • 500ml of stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • 25g almonds, ground
  • 1 roll to make 50g of breadcrumbs (keep the crust)
  • 150ml cream
  • A little butter
  • Parsley to garnish

 

Method

1. Put the gammon into a pan with the chicken thighs, parsley, onion and mace.Cover with water and simmer gently for a hour, making sure the meat does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

2. Add the stock and some salt and pepper and simmer gently for another hour.

3. Pass the soup through a sieve into a large jug.

4. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and remove the fat from the gammon.

5. Blend the chicken and gammon with the almonds, breadcrumbs, cream and about 600ml of liquid. Pour into a pan to warm through and then check the seasoning.

6. Chop the crust of the roll into pieces then fry in a little butter until crisp and golden. Scatter these over the soup with a little parsley and enjoy!

(Serves 4-6)

Discover more authentic eighteenth century recipes you can prepare at home with A Georgian Cookery Book by Laraine Hare, available to purchase from our museum shop.

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